space
You are viewing stuff tagged with space.
You are viewing stuff tagged with space.
Kottke wrote a bit about the Pioneer probes this morning, and it got me reading about them elsewhere. A cursory introduction: the Pioneer space probes 10 and 11 are among the furthest man-made objects from Earth. They both exceeded their missions by spectacular degrees (staying in radio contact far longer than anticipated) and returned extraordinary amounts of information about our solar system in the process. For example, there is Pioneer 10, which was launched in 1972. And then, over 30 years later:
The video of this recent test of NASA’s methane-powered rocket is a dazzling feast of color and sound. The evening sunset desert surroundings (which I am sure were chosen for their scientific, not artistic, value) provide the perfect backdrop for the futuristic looking flame. The part of the video where the rocket goes from pre-burn to ignition is absolutely outrageous. A bit about the methane rockets: